


Sharp

by Oparu



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, deals with Robin's death, mentions of Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 20:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6769525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina's lost Robin and can't cope with another loss, and she turns to Mal for anything to dull the pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharp

**Author's Note:**

> I love the idea of Maleficent helping Regina deal with her heartbreak, and the darkness they'd work through to get there.

“I can’t,” she whispers. Regina’s voice crackles, like ice sliding over stones. “I can’t, I can’t feel this anymore. She flexes her fingers, then beats her fist against her chest. “I tired tearing it out, but I don’t know if I can do that without wanting to crush it in my hands because I can’t.” Her voice rises in pitch, cutting into Maleficent’s chest as if those hands had reached for her own heart. 

She reaches out towards her, but Regina hits her hands away. 

“Don’t touch me.” 

Mal lifts her hands up, and nods. “I won’t.”

Regina stares at the ground, balling her hands into fists. “I want to hurt you.”

“Feel free to throw a few fireballs my way.”

“it won’t help.” Regina grabs her wrist, twisting her hand. Pain shoots through her forearm, but it doesn’t matter. Not faced with this. “Nothing helps. I can’t even breathe without it hurting because he- he should be here. He’s dead, and his children, his daughter won’t even remember him. I can’t give that back. I can’t bring him back. I–”

She continues to twist, turning Mal’s wrist until the tendons creak, threatening to snap. 

“What do you need?”

“I need him back.”

“I know,” Maleficent whispers. “I know. I’ve been where you are.”

“Have you?” She cracks, and so does Mal’s wrist, snapping out of joint. Mal’s sharp gasp of pain helps bring Regina back. Helps her focus. “Briar Rose didn’t die.”

“She let her new husband torture me. She stood by and watched while he tried to dig my heart out of my chest. She betrayed me, us, and everything that I loved.” Mal doesn’t pull her arm back, letting Regina hold it. Gritting her teeth helps with the pain, but Regina needs it. She needs more, and Mal can give her that. She’ll endure, if that will help. “It wasn’t a death.”

“What did you do?”

“Burned an entire forest to ash and tried to kill myself slowly with a watered down sleeping curse, neither helped, though, they made it bearable.” 

Regina thrust her arm away, sending a fresh jolt of pain through her wrist. 

“Truly bearable?”

Meeting her eyes, she wishes more than anything that she could take this away, keep Regina from this self-loathing. Mal cradles her wrist to her chest, not ready to take away the physical pain. “No, but it makes it easier to tell yourself that, for awhile. For nearly twenty years, if you lose track of time.”

“Give it to me.”

“Regina.”

“I tried drinking, I tried destroying the quarry and pretending it was Hades, I tried looking at Henry, at the baby, but I can’t even hold her without hearing him scream–”

Maleficent nods. She shuts her eyes. “It won’t make it better.”

“I know.” Regina takes a step, than another. Then she crashes into Mal’s chest, into her torn wrist and their pain collides. “I know, I don’t care. I don’t care about you, or myself, even Henry, I just–”

Mal strokes her cheek with her functioning hand, then nods. “All right. I still have some sleeping curse, and dried toadstool. The sea isn’t far.” She waves at the sofa. Regina can wait here, where it’s warm. 

“Don’t-” Regina begs, grabbing at Mal’s freshly aching wrist. “Don’t leave me.” She takes Mal’s hand, and she gasps again, because it burns all the way up to her elbow. She tugs Mal’s wrist back into place, the fire of her magic burning the tendons until they heal. 

Wrapping her arms around her, Mal thinks of the sea. The cold, unforgiving depths are warmer than Regina’s eyes, an this won’t bring life back into them. It’ll only dull the pain for a little while. Regina will come back. She won’t drown for decades like Maleficent did. 

Regina was her hope once, perhaps she can shelter her until that hope burns again.


End file.
